Press release
Tánaiste announces a new complaints process for members of the Defence Forces
Published on
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Published on
Last updated on
The Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD, today (7 November 2024) announced the appointment of Mr Kevin Duffy, former Chair of the Labour Court, as the interim Grievance Manager for the Defence Forces.
Mr Duffy’s appointment will be on an interim basis for a period of 12 months and he will be supported in his role by a panel of external HR professionals.
Announcing the appointment today, the Tánaiste said;
“The introduction of this new independent and external grievance process is another important step in the cultural transformation of the Defence Forces. My priority is to make it available to personnel without further delay. I want to thank Kevin Duffy for taking on this role, to which he brings a wealth of highly valuable experience and expertise to. I want also to acknowledge the constructive engagement of the External Oversight Body, the Defence Forces Representative Associations and to the Women’s Networks, all of whom contributed to the development of this process, which I believe will provide a strong basis on which to legislate for a permanent complaints’ resolution process.”
The new Grievance Process will provide members of the Defence Forces with an external and independent process through which complaints of an interpersonal nature can be investigated. This will be implemented initially on a non-statutory basis for a pilot of 12 months, with a view to implementing a more permanent statutory based complaints scheme.
This will address a key recommendation contained in the Independent Review Group (IRG) Report - that members of the Defence Forces should have access to an independent and external complaints system. It is an important part a wider review and redesign of the grievance management framework within the Defence Forces, which is aimed at building trust and confidence in complaints processes.
The Tánaiste confirmed that all stakeholders, including the Representative Associations, will be consulted and their views fully reflected in a review of the interim process that will be completed at the end of the 12-month pilot. This will include consultation in relation to the process of appointing a Grievance Manager on a permanent statutory footing, if this is recommended following the review of the pilot.
Following today’s announcement the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lt. General Seán Clancy, said;
“I welcome the Tánaiste’s announcement of Kevin Duffy’s appointment. This new process will provide members of the Defence Forces with a means of having their complaint dealt with externally and independently and, as such, it will be a further key enabler of cultural transformation within the organisation. I encourage all members to support this initiative and to engage fully with the process whether they are a complainant, a respondent or a witness.”
In addition, the Tánaiste also announced today that he has accepted the report of the Working Group set up to progress another IRG recommendation which called for the development of a complaints system for civilian employees and civil servants who work with the Defence Forces.
The Working Group, which was led by Kevin Duffy and comprised of all key stakeholders including the civilian and military representative associations and unions, has worked collaboratively over recent months to design an entirely new process that is acceptable to all.
Commenting on this new complaints process, which will be introduced and communicated shortly, the Tánaiste said,> “This is another important milestone in the implementation of the IRG recommendations and a further demonstration of the government’s commitment to driving cultural change.”
Ends
The Independent Review Group (IRG) was established in 2022 to examine dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces and its report was published on 28 March 2023 after the Government agreed to progress the recommendations contained in the Report.
The announcements made today relate to progress in the implementation of two IRG complaint reform related recommendations
• in relation to the reform of the complaints process for serving members of the Defence Force,
• and a call for the establishment of a complaints process for civilian employees and civil servants who work with the Defence Forces.
One of the IRG recommendations called for reform to the process of making a complaint of unacceptable behaviour and recommended that serving members of the Defence Forces have ‘access to an independent, external complaints service delivered by a professional service provider for as long as it takes to put a trusted internal system in place.’
This interim grievance process was developed following consultation with the External Oversight Body, the Defence Forces Representative Associations and engagement with the Women’s Network.
Mr Kevin Duffy is a qualified barrister and a former Chair of the Labour Court. He retired from the Labour Court in June 2016, having been appointed as Deputy Chair in 1997, and served as Chair from 2003. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Law Department of Maynooth University. He previously served as Chair of the Public Service Pay Commission and more recently as the independent Chair of a Working Group established to develop a complaints process for civilian employees and civil servants who work with the Defence Forces. This Working Group has now presented it report to the Tánaiste.
The IRG also called for the establishment of a complaints process for civilian employees and civil servants who work with the Defence Forces. In line with the IRG recommendation, a Working Group comprised of all the relevant stakeholders was established to develop a proposal in this regard. The Working Group, which was chaired by Mr Kevin Duffy, met for the first time in early March and produced its recommended course of action which the Tánaiste has accepted and agreed to take forward for implementation as quickly as possible. Arrangements are now being put in place to operationalise the process.